A Twins Life
by Jedipilot24
Summary: We've all seen it before, Voldemort attacks the Potters and Dumbledore makes a mistake about who the BWL is...but suppose that he made a different mistake instead. HHr, Please R & R. Rating may change in the future.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, Harry would've actually used love to kill Voldemort instead of some clichéd 'super wand'.

**A Twins Life**

Chapter 1: The Boy-Who-Lived

Night had fallen on the sleepy muggle town of Godric's Hallow. The inhabitants of the town viewed the Potters as a slightly eccentric but still likable family but they did not know that the Potters were actually wizards. So it was then that the little children of Godric's Hallow went around from door to door in their costumes with their parents watching. One house that was missed was the Potters though that was because no one could quite remember where exactly it was. In truth, the Potter's house was under the Fidelius charm as Lily and James Potter were in hiding from the dark wizard Voldemort.

"And here we go!" James said with a smile, holding the spoon of baby food in front of little Harry who was barely 1 year old but who already had black hair and green eyes. His identical twin David was being fed by Lily "Here comes the quaffle, will he make it…score!" James exclaimed as he put the spoon in Harry's mouth and carefully removed it. Harry swallowed the food and giggled slightly. James started to scoop up more food and then suddenly stiffened as the house wards alerted him to someone's approach. With a glance at Lily, the young couple sprang up and grabbed their wands just in time for the door to suddenly fly open; Voldemort stood there wearing a robe and cloak as black as the night with a yew wand in his hand. James crouched and began firing spells at the dark wizard while Lily stepped back and began a long chant, making broad strokes with her wand.

Voldemort put up a shield that effortlessly blocked James' spells and stepped into the house and was followed by a cowering man with brown hair. _Pettigrew!_

Lily quickly finished the ritual with two stabs of her wand that were directed toward her children; Lily was so glad that she had planned for the possibility of being betrayed. The ritual she had just performed was a very experimental one that Dumbledore had come up with though it would technically be considered 'dark'; _theoretically_ it would protect up to two subjects from all dark magic, even the Killing Curse, for 1 hour…albeit at the cost of depriving the caster of their magic for that same hour period. There was no way to know how exactly it would bear out in real life but Lily had figured that every little bit would help.

Voldemort incapacitated James Potter with a stunner and moments later did the same with Lily. The dark lord walked around looking at each of the two identical babies, each of them had black hair and green eyes; one of the babies was looking at Voldemort intently while the other's attention was on the ground.

"Wormtail!" Voldemort sneered, deciding to get on with it "Which of the brats is which?"

"I…I don't know m-master," Wormtail replied and Voldemort scowled

"Fool!" he said "Why do you think I brought you along if not to tell me who was older!"

"I…I…"

No matter," Voldemort declared "they are both just babies anyway." Only the most powerful wizards could learn how to see auras and Voldemort had picked up the ability during his quest for power. Now Voldemort used it to examine the auras of these two children in order to try and see what kind of wizards they would one day become. The one child looking at the ground had a weak aura which indicated that he would be an average wizard; but the other one, the one that was looking at Voldemort, _his_ aura was incredibly strong for a one-year-old baby, leading to Voldemort to conclude that this child would grow up to be a _powerful_ wizard.

His decision made, Voldemort pulled out of his cloak a golden clasp that had once belonged to Godric Gryffindor; after setting the horcrux ritual in motion, pointed his wand at the brat looking at him and uttered softly two words "Avada Kedavra!" A jet of green light came out of Voldemort's wand and streaked toward the boy.

Although Lily's ritual was not quite as powerful as Dumbledore had claimed, when combined with the prophecy it was enough. Voldemort did not know that his decision of which to kill first, and indeed the very method with which he had arrived at this decision, had effectively marked the boy as his equal. Voldemort, however, only knew the first two lines of the prophecy, namely that one of these children would have the power to defeat him; he did not know that in the course of trying to end the threat of the prophecy, he had just instead set the rest of it into motion. The Killing Curse hit Harry's forehead and then suddenly rebounded back at Voldemort, shocking the dark lord so much that he didn't even move out of the way. The curse hit him and Voldemort would have shrieked in pain except for the fact that he could no longer move his mouth and the clasp fell out of his hands to the ground. Wormtail watched in horror as a dark shapeless form emerge from his master's body, which then fell limply to the floor.  
Because of the horcrux ritual and the fact that Voldemort had still technically killed someone, namely himself, Voldemort's soul split. However a wand was necessary to direct the fragment into the prepared vessel but since that was now impossible, the fragment _should_ have simply dissipated. But Voldemort's other existing horcruxes prevented that from happening, a side-effect no one could have anticipated because no other dark wizard had ever before split his soul as many times as Voldemort had. Wormtail saw a tiny fragment of Voldemort's soul split off from the main portion of the black mass and moved toward the baby, entering the fresh lightning bolt scar that marked where the curse had hit. Even as the rest of Voldemort's soul fled the house, poor little Harry Potter began screaming as the fragment attempted to take him over. The fragment had the advantages of possessing a portion of Voldemort's power along with his memories and experience as well as the fact that Voldemort was a master of the mind arts. Harry had one whole complete soul and while he was certainly not be able to match the fragment in raw power and was further handicapped by a _very_ young and immature mind, it was still _Harry's_ body, his soul belonged there…the fragment did not. That might still not have mattered were it not for Lily's ritual and the prophecy magic, which once again acted to protect Harry. But souls are resilient things and so the fragment ended up being only partially destroyed; the essence of Voldemort in the fragment was gone but its magical power remained and so was shunted into little Harry's magical core, forcing it to expand in order to contain the new power. But if the core expanded too rapidly, it could still kill Harry and so his magical genes, in an effort to keep him alive, funneled the newfound power into a large, unfocused burst of accidental which did a number of things. The first of which was that Wormtail, who had just started to pick up his master's wand, was suddenly flung up against the wall and knocked unconscious. Even as this was happening, David's chair was knocked to the ground and began crying as his own genes sought to protect him from the sudden burst of magic; the result was starburst shaped scar on his forehead. The accidental magic did one final thing and caused part of the ceiling to collapse on top of Harry, who continued crying.

Harry's magical levels were now dangerously low, almost at squib level. He would recover and indeed would eventually become a very powerful wizard because the premature expansion of his core would combine with his normal growth to give him at maturity a power-level fit to rival that of Voldemort. Thus had Harry Potter been marked as Voldemort's equal.

Lily and James Potter quickly awoke to the sight of their two children crying, both chairs were overturned: Harry was barely visible inside some rubble and David was on the floor nearby. Reacting only as parents could, Lily picked up David while James dug Harry out before also picking him up, sending a stunner at Pettigrew to keep him knocked out.

"Rat indeed," James snarled. "The traitor!"

Several hours passed before he and Lily were able to calm Harry and David down and put them to bed. James then floo-called Dumbledore and informed him of what had happened. Moments later, the old wizard stepped out of the fireplace and followed the young couple up the stairs to the babies' room and their two cribs that were side-by-side. Dumbledore, like Voldemort, had learned how to see auras and now he attempted to determine which baby was their savior. David's aura looked fairly typical and unchanged, meaning that he would almost certainly grow up to be an average and unremarkable wizard. Harry's aura, however, was barely visible at all and that puzzled Dumbledore for it seemed much weaker than the last time he had seen it but it also had the very specific residue of the Killing Curse…which should not have been possible! The old Headmaster started to say something and then paused. Because Harry had just vanquished Voldemort, he would undoubtedly become very famous and well known and all that fame and attention could very well go to his head…unless…

"I believe that David here is our savior," Dumbledore lied with an absolutely straight face and feeling no guilt about it…it was for the greater good after all…"Note the difference in scar shape for one, you say you found Harry buried in rubble, well that is probably where his scar came from. The shape of David's scar makes much more sense in my opinion. Also, David's aura appears much stronger than Harry's…a clear sign that he will be more powerful." Lily and James nodded silently, agreeing with Dumbledore's explanation.

_Harry will forgive me when is older_ Dumbledore thought as he walked back down the stairs, took Voldemort's wand and bound Pettigrew with ropes _It really is for the best…he'll understand…_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I would be flattered if someone actually mistook my writing for hers. I am not making any money, this is purely for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of my readers.

**A Twins Life**

Chapter 2:

Harry James Potter immediately boarded the Hogwarts Express. Had he looked back, he would have seen his parents, Lily and James, exchanging some final farewells with his twin, David Potter. But Harry did not look back and was instead looking forward to being able to spend another nine and a half months away at the place that was more a home to him than Potter Manor ever would be. In contrast to David's expensive and tailored clothes, all Harry had to wear were some plain and rather worn wizard robes. Everything Harry owned was a hand-me-down: clothes, school books, even his first wand, which had originally belonged to his grandfather. Meanwhile Harry's twin brother, David Potter, was spoiled with everything he could ever possibly want. Last year for his thirteenth birthday, David had received (among countless other things) one of the new Firebolts; David's old Nimbus 2000 had been promptly tossed in the attic and forgotten about. Harry, of course, had immediately gone up there and claimed it for his own since it was still a usable and fairly good broom, all things considered. It had been his only 'present' that day since his parents had apparently forgotten (again) that it had also been Harry's birthday. As they had again this year. Sometimes, Harry wondered if his parents truly did not know that they in fact also had a second son. But then they would do something to disabuse him of that notion and instead inform him that although they were aware that he existed, they preferred to not think about it most of the time.

Harry found an empty compartment and sat down in it. He pulled out from his trunk a thin and somewhat worn, black leather journal with no author or title and began reading it. Harry had discovered it purely by accident in his refuge at Potter Manor, also known as the Potter Family library; the journal described, in great detail, the various steps necessary to become an animagus and Harry had decided to see if he had a form though the book had warned early on that the whole process would take at least a year, probably two to three.

The compartment door opened; Harry looked up and smiled when he saw Hermione Granger enter, she was smiling too. After helping her put away her trunk, the two of them settled down next to each other

"What's that book?" Hermione asked

"It appears to be instructions on how to become an animagus." Hermione's eyes widened as she took the journal reverently.

"Where did you find this?" she exclaimed "I've looked up the animagus process but none of the books I found were consistent with any of the others."

"It was in the Potter Manor library," said Harry "I found it while they were all at the World Cup and it instantly intrigued me so I decided to see if I could become one."

"Could I join you?" Hermione asked and Harry smiled.

"Of course," he said and Hermione returned his smile before relaxing

"How was your summer?" she asked

"Same as usual," said Harry "My parents pretended I didn't exist, I took refuge reading, they left me behind when they went to the Quidditch World Cup…"

"They did what?" Hermione exclaimed in shock "They left you behind?"

"I thought you didn't like Quidditch?"

"I don't," said Hermione "But just leaving you behind…" Hermione shook her head in disgust.

"That's not the half of it," said Harry "They also refused to buy me dress robes. At first I thought they'd simply forgotten I was there but when I reminded them that I needed dress robes too, they first ignored me and then told me to shut up." Hermione's jaw went slack and then she narrowed her eyes.

"That's just wrong, Harry," she said "Especially since the robes are almost certainly intended for some formal event that's going to be taking place during the school year…possibly even a dance."

"Well, there's nothing I can do about it," sighed Harry "the sum total of my entire life-savings is 3 Galleons, 5 Sickles and 7 Knuts." And, Harry did not add, all of that was spare change that he'd scrounged up and saved over the years. Hermione now had a calculating expression on her face, she then shook her head in disgust again and let out a sigh.

"My summer was mostly uneventful," she said "And, to be honest, I'm actually almost _glad_ you weren't at the World Cup given what happened there…" Hermione trailed off and Harry nodded

"Yeah," he said, remembering the picture of the Dark Mark on the front page of the Daily Prophet as well as the accompanying article that somehow managed to simultaneously bash the Ministry for being unprepared and applaud Lily, James, Sirius and Elizabeth for bravely fighting back, leaving entirely aside the fact that the four of them were all Aurors. They'd been off duty during the World Cup but they were still Aurors nonetheless.

Harry shook his head and thought about the circumstances that had caused him and Hermione to become friends. They had first met on the Hogwarts Express but even by Halloween, had only still been casual acquaintances. Some of that reluctance and holding back had been on Harry's part and some of it Hermione's. On Halloween the Gryffindor idiots (aka David Potter, Michael Black and Ronald Weasley) had said from very nasty things to her after Charms class, which the Gryffindors had shared with Ravenclaw that year. Harry, being a Slytherin, hadn't learned about this until he'd heard Padma Patil mention to her friends that she'd seen Hermione in one of the girls bathrooms. Harry had skipped the feast to go talk to her and had been about to lead her down to the Great Hall for a bite to eat when a troll had come into the bathroom, thereby preventing them from leaving.

_Flashback_

_Harry and Hermione stood frozen for a moment in horror, wondering how a troll could have gotten into the castle. But when the troll suddenly raised its club, Harry immediately grabbed Hermione and pulled her aside just as the troll brought the club down. If they had been standing there a moment longer, they would have been crushed._

"_Hermione," said Harry as the troll picked up its club again and started to lumber towards them "I have a plan but I need your help."_

"_What is it?" Hermione asked as they once again dodged the club_

"_Hover Charm on the club," he said. _

"_But what…oh…" Hermione said as she realized his plan and nodded. The two of them raised their wands and said together "Wingardium Leviosa!" just as the troll raised its club yet again. Harry forced as much power through his wand as he could, determined to make this spell work. The fact that his wand was not properly attuned to him meant that getting decent results from it required an inordinate amount of work, far more than should be necessary. The club floated up and hovered for a moment over the trolls head, which looked up at it with a dumbfounded expression. That was when Harry and Hermione let the club fall; gravity took care of the rest and with a resounding thud that seemed to rock the entire bathroom, the troll collapsed to the ground. _

"_Is it…dead?" Hermione asked cautiously_

"_Probably not," said Harry "Knocked out most likely. Let's get out of here."_

_End of Flashback_

After that, Harry and Hermione had become fast friends. That years Christmas had been the best in his life as not only had Hermione invited him to stay at her house for the holidays but she also had given him a gift certificate to Ollivanders and Harry had used it several days later to get a proper wand that he didn't have to fight with for results. His practical classwork in the second term had showed a remarkable improvement. By far the most intriguing thing about his wand was the fact that it was a brother to Voldemorts wand, having the same core from the same creature, namely a phoenix. Harry, although he didn't much believe in fate, did know that some things were just not coincidences though at the moment the significance of _this _apparent coincidence eluded him.

Despite being friends though, Harry had always had problems getting close to anybody and being a Slytherin had only served to refine his innate distrust of others. Similarly, he had later learned that Hermione's childhood made her much the same way. So despite being friends, they had both still held back a bit. All that had changed in their second year after Hermione had been petrified by a basilisk. Driven to have vengeance, Harry had buried himself in finding out what exactly was going on and the trail of clues had eventually led him to the Chamber of Secrets. But then, right after he'd opened up the Chamber but before he could go down into it, David appeared having somehow acquired an Invisibility Cloak. David explained that Harry had been there number two suspect after Draco Malfoy and that they'd had their eye on him since the dueling club incident.

_Flashback_

"_How about the two Potters?" said Snape with a twisted smile._

"_Excellent idea," said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and David into the middle of the hall as the rest of the crowd backed away to give them room. Harry saw Lockhart show David some kind of complicated wiggling motion with his wand before dropping; Harry repressed a snort as Lockhart made some feeble excuse about how his wand was so excited today and then Snape bent down closer to Harry and whispered in his year_

"_Here's your chance to deflate your brothers head a bit. Do you know how to summon a snake?" Harry smirked, having read about this spell in the library, and nodded "Good."_

"_Alright," said Lockhart finally "Three--two--one—go!" Harry's wand was already tracking up and the second after Lockhart said "Go" Harry shouted out_

"_Serpentsortia!" The end of his wand exploded and a long, black snake shot out of it, fell heavily to the floor. There were screams as the rest of the crowd backed up swiftly to avoid the snake, which was now slithering toward David; Harry savored the look of absolute fear on his face._

"_Don't move, David," said Snape lazily, clearly also enjoying the sight "I'll get rid of it."_

"_Allow me," said Lockhart, stepping forward. The idiot teacher brandished his wand at the snake; there was a loud bang and the snake flew ten feet in the air before landing on the ground again and, enraged, started heading towards Justin Finch-Fletchley, fangs exposed and poised to strike. But a moment before it could, Harry called out _

"_No, don't harm him!" Harry wasn't sure exactly why he did that but the snake complied and settled down on the floor. And then Harry was aware that now suddenly everyone was staring at him with fear on their faces. Justin Finch-Fletchley looked like he was about to faint and if David had looked fearful before, now he was absolutely horrified. Snape quickly stepped forward, waved his wand and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke; and then the Potions Master gave Harry a shrewd and calculating look. And that was when Harry realized that he was a parselmouth. _

_End of Flashback_

After that incident, Harry had found himself rising in status in Slytherin House for snakes were the symbol of Slytherin and parseltongue was a very rare gift. Outside of Slytherin, though, people avoided him like the plague. Except for Hermione. Harry had been prepared for her to avoid him too but she didn't. Instead, Hermione had reassured Harry that she didn't believe him to be the Heir and was satisfied with Harry's (entirely truthful) explanation that he'd had no idea that he was a parselmouth.

But David, after seeing him open the Chamber, had been convinced right then and there that Harry _was_ the Heir and wouldn't listen to reason. And moments after that, Ron had arrived with a wandless and rather cowed Gilderoy Lockhart in tow. Harry, knowing that he was now outnumbered two possibly three-to-one had wasted no time in jumping down the chute. The others had followed and a duel had then ensued; Harry had got the drop on Ron pretty quickly and had been about to take out David when Lockhart had suddenly grabbed Ron's wand and attempted to memory charm them all. The wand backfired and caused a cave-in that separated the now mindless Lockhart on one side with Ron and the two Potters on the other side.

_Flashback_

"_Look," Harry said, his patience worn very thin as he held his brother at wand point on the other side of the rock-fall. "I am not the heir and you are an idiot if you believe otherwise." David was feeling around on the ground for something and Harry cleared his throat. David looked up to see Harry twirling his wand "Looking for this?" David jumped up and made a grab for the wand but Harry easily kept it out of his reach_

"_Uh--uh, I don't think so."_

"_I'm not going to let you get away with this!" David said with no small amount of false bravado._

"_And you are such an idiot." With that, Harry turned, lit up his wand and headed deeper into the Chamber, David following behind no doubt scheming of a way to get back his wand. _

'_Such an idiot' Harry thought, shaking his head. They arrived at a solid wall on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds. It didn't take a genius to figure out what to do next. "Open," Harry hissed and the serpents parted as the wall cracked open and smoothly slid apart. Together, Harry and David entered the Chamber of Secrets."_

_End of Flashback_

They had found Ginny Weasley unconscious on the ground with some kind of diary on her chest; there had been someone else there, who had introduced himself as Tom Marvolo Riddle; it had not taken long for Harry to deduce that it was Riddle who was somehow behind all this and that had been confirmed when Riddle not only boasted about manipulating Ginny through the diary but had then used Ginny's wand to write his name in the air in fiery letters and then rearrange them to spell 'I am Lord Voldemort'.

And then Dumbledore's Phoenix, Fawkes, had arrived with the Sorting Hat. Not long after that, Riddle had called the Basilisk to kill David and Harry. David, being the idiot that he was, would have been killed by the stare if Harry had not knocked him aside just in time.

_Flashback_

_Harry knocked his idiot brother aside and raised his wand, keeping his eyes closed. He had one spell that might work "Speculum pondero!" Silver mist erupted from Harry's wand and began coalescing into a giant shiny mirror._

"_NO!" Riddle suddenly exclaimed "Close your eyes, close your eyes." Harry cautiously opened his eyes to se the basilisk charging forward using its other senses to guide it and ended his spell. It had been a good try... Fawkes suddenly dived down and permanently blinded the basilisk with his talons, blood began streaming to the floor. Harry went over and picked up the Sorting Hat, knowing that Fawkes would not have brought it unless there was _some_ good reason. On a hunch, Harry put away his wand, reached his hand inside and felt it close over something cold and made a metal. With a triumphant smirk, Harry pulled his hand out to find himself holding…a dagger? Harry's face fell and he dropped the hat. It was a rather wicked looking dagger with a silver blade that twisted like a snake and a handle with an emerald the size of an egg in the pommel. But it was still a dagger when all was said and done. Harry's dumfoundedness nearly cost him his life as the basilisk charged; Harry got out of the way just barely in time and the enormous serpent hit the Chamber wall. It immediately retracted and lunged again, but again Harry managed to dodge, still trying to figure out just what he was supposed to with a dagger against a 30-foot long snake that still had tough skin and venomous fangs. The basilisks continued lunging at him and the whipping of its tail caused the Sorting Hat to be accidentally flung into David's hands. The Gryffindor immediately placed his hand into it as he had seen Harry do and pulled out a gleaming silver sword with a handle that glittered with rubies the size of eggs. _

'_Bloody hell, I get a dagger and he gets a freaking sword! That Hat must be seriously addled.' Harry thought and then a plan came to him as he heard Riddle order the basilisk to attack the other boy as he was the greater threat. Harry's plan was risky, damn near suicidal in fact, but it was the best he had. David was holding the sword awkwardly, as if he didn't have a clue as to what he was supposed to do with it. Harry, now grasping the dagger by the blade, rushed over to his brother and then, as the basilisk lunged toward them with its mouth wide open, Harry suddenly threw the dagger into it, silently willing it to strike true. The dagger plunged into the roof of the serpent's mouth and it roared in pain, blindly thrashing around, blood dripping from the wound.. Harry grabbed the sword from his still clueless brother, charged forward and plunged the blade into the roof of the basilik's mouth right next to the dagger. But, even as warm blood drenched Harry's arms, even as the Basilisk gave its dying scream, even as Riddle cried out_

"_NO!", Harry felt a searing pain in his in his arm, just above his elbow. A single long, poisonous fang was sinking deeper and deeper into Harry's arm. The fang splintered as the basilisk keeled over sideways, still twitching a bit; Harry fell to the ground and quickly wrenched the fang out of his arm but it was too late. White-hot pain was spreading from the wound to the rest of his body and Harry's vision was going foggy. Even as Riddle began gloating, Fawkes suddenly flew over to Harry and began crying on his wound; Harry felt the pain fade away and his vision returned. _

"_No, get away from him you bird!" Riddle waved Ginny's wand and a loud bang issued from it causing Fawkes to take off again. "Healing powers," said Riddle "I forgot but no matter, you are both still going die right now…" Fawkes suddenly returned and dropped something in Harry's lap…it was the diary that had been on Ginny's almost lifeless form. Harry, Riddle and David all stared at it for a moment and then Harry, as if he'd planned it all along, seized the fang and plunged it into the center of the book. _

_Riddle let out a piercing and unearthly scream; ink began spurting out of the book, Riddle was screaming and clutching his chest as if he'd just been stabbed in the chest and then…he was gone. Harry looked down at the diary, which was continuing to spurt ink, the basilisk venom had burned a hole right through it. _

_Carefully, Harry stood up; he retrieved the sword and dagger from the basilisk's mouth, the creature had stopped moving and was now quite dead. He then picked up the Sorting Hat and tossed David his wand, who was looking more than a little uneasy. The wand, however, hit David and fell to the ground. The boy blinked looked around and then picked up the wand._

"_There you see," said Harry "I was not the heir, it was Voldemort all along."_

"_But…but…" David was clearly have a moment of disillusionment as he had, it seemed, believed Voldemort to be gone and dead. Then he shook his head, walked over to Harry "Give me that," he said, grabbing the sword and moments later, Michael Black arrived with a number of teachers in tow_

_End of Flashback_

David, of course, had claimed credit for the deed; Harry had tried to establish the truth but only Snape had seemed to believe him, the others all blindly accepted David's version of events. Snape and Harry had lingered behind while Fawkes took everyone else up to the castle. At Snape's asking, Harry had poured out what really happened. Snape had merely nodded, as if that was what he'd expected and then had whisked the basilisk corpse up to one of his dungeons where he had then spent the entire summer butchering it. A basilisk corpse was a goldmine when it came to potion ingredients and rare was the occasion when a Potions Master was able to find one that was not only freshly killed but still virtually intact. While that was all well and good for Snape, the student body also benefited from a Potions Master who was too ecstatic to remember to be cross and biased, even when the next school year began. The result was a steady and almost across the board increase in the average Potions grade though, ironically enough, most Slytherin grades had actually slipped as they had gotten used to a biased instructed who would give them 'O's' regardless. The vast majority of Slytherin's, however, bounced back by December of last year and even the Hufflepuff King of the Klutzes, Neville Longbottom, had managed to become a fairly solid 'A' student with the occasional 'E'.

The dagger the Hat had given Harry had in fact turned out to be the Dagger of Slytherin; Harry had found _that_ little fact out while rereading _Hogwarts, A History_ that summer and Hermione had given him for his birthday that year a dragonhide sheath for it to go with the dragonhide wand-holster she'd gotten for him that Christmas. Their friendship had also changed after the Chamber of Secrets though it had been a change for the better. Harry had missed Hermione so very much and the warm hug she'd given indicated that she had missed him too. The two of them had spent the train ride back to Kings Cross revealing the full extent of their pasts. Harry had told Hermione about what it had been like growing up in the constant shadow of his idiot brother and Hermione had told him about growing up with absolutely no friends and being called things far worse than an 'insufferable know-it-all' by the other kids. The similarities had been only too striking and their friendship had grown much stronger and closer as a result.

Harry and Hermione's third year had been both their best and their worst to date. Peter Pettigrew had escaped from Azkaban during the summer and so as a result Minister Fudge, in one of his typical moments of stupidity, had decided that it would be a good idea to place dementors around Hogwarts. Both Harry and David had been adversely affected by the dementors and both had gone to Professor Lupin, the new Defense teacher, for help but Lupin had only agreed to teach David, saying something about how he only had the time to give one student private lessons. Harry had been forced to go to Snape for lessons, and thereby risk sending him back into his old patterns of behavior, but fortunately Snape hadn't seemed to mind much; Harry's main difficulty in learning the Patronus Charm, though, had been a serious lack of happy memories. Even now, the best he could produce was a silver shield powerful enough to hold off a single dementor for perhaps 30 seconds; to Harry that was not sufficient at all and he intended to continue practicing the spell on his own against a boggart-dementor until he mastered it and also to start teaching it to Hermione. Of course, that was still better than David, who even after months of training with Professor Lupin, could still only produce enough silver mist to _maybe_ hold off a dementor for a second or two.

Fortunately, Fudge had been persuaded by Dumbledore to remove the dementors at the end of the year after there'd been no sightings of Pettigrew anywhere near Hogwarts. Harry blinked when he heard Hermione say his name and turned toward her

"Sorry, Hermione," he said "I guess I kinda spaced out there…what did you say again?"

"I was just thinking that we could go to Gladrags on the first Hogsmeade weekend. My parents gave me a hundred Galleons of spending money. It's supposed to last me the entire year but I think I can use it to get you some basic dress robes there and maybe a few decent outfits."

"Hermione," said Harry "I appreciate the offer but that is _your_ money…"

"Harry," said Hermione "I am your friend and this is what friends do for each other. Consider it a very early Christmas present." Harry took a deep breath and then nodded

"Well, alright," he finally said "I won't bother trying to argue with you since, as I just noted, it _is_ your money to do with as you please." Hermione smiled and then leaned over to plant a kiss on his cheek; Harry felt a rush of warmth inside and sat back with another, more contented sigh. The Hogwarts Express continued chugging toward its destination with Hermione snuggled up against Harry as she read a book; Harry had never felt more calm, relaxed and contented in his life and a part of him wished that it would never end. But end it did when the train finally pulled into Hogsmeade Station.

A/N: At last, here is my long awaited second chapter. Don't expect all chapters to be this long. It was almost even longer but I decided that this was a better cut off point as the purpose of this chapter is merely to set the stage. Next chapter, the school year officially begins.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, then Harmony would be canon and Ginny would have died in the Department of Mysteries.

A/N: Merry Christmas to all my faithful and patient reviewers. Here is chapter 3 and Chapters 2 and 1 have been changed slightly. Chapter 1 incorporates an idea that Darkness Has Banished the Soul gave me as a better way for Harry to survive. Chapter 2 was only changed slightly and it isn't really essential but you may be a bit confused in subsequent chapters if you don't read it.

**A Twins Life**

Chapter 3:

"_A thousand years or more ago,_

_When I was newly sewn,_

_There lived four wizards of renown,_

_Whose names are still well known:_

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen,_

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

_They hatched a daring plan_

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began_

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own House, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach._

_By Gryffindor the bravest were_

_Prized beyond the rest;_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best; _

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission;_

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition._

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng,_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone?_

'_Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead!_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,_

_I've never yet been wrong,_

_I'll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell you where you belong!_

_(Goblet of Fire, Chapter 12, pg 176-177)._

After the customary applause following the Sorting Hat's latest song, Professor McGonagall began reading off the names of the first years so that they could each be Sorted. In the end, as usual, there was a pretty even split between the four Houses. Harry just zoned out Dumbledore's usual post-feast speech since it was the same every year…the list of banned items on the door of Filch's office that had probably only ever been read by Filch, the never-enforced rule about magic in the corridors, the new Defense teacher…polite applause, yatta yatta yatta. Harry was too busy caught up thinking about the animagus journal that he had found to bother paying attention…

"…the Interhouse Quidditch Cup will not take place this year!" Harry jolted and almost stood up in surprise; he was far from being the only student to do so and nearly everyone was now staring at Dumbledore, their mouths moving silently but otherwise too appalled to say anything. Now that he had the entire Great Hall's full attention, Dumbledore continued "This is because of an event that will be taking place at Hogwarts this year, starting in October. This event is the Triwizard Tournament!" At once, the looks of horror turned into a mixture of surprise and confusion

"You're JOKING!" Harry heard someone from the Gryffindor table shout

"I assure you, I am not," said Dumbledore who then went on to explain the Tournament to those unfamiliar with it. But all Harry could think of was of winning the Tournament. The prize money quite an incentive, sure…Harry would even admit that it was a big one; but the opportunity to finally escape one and for all David's shadow…the chance to finally be known for more than simply the little-known and oft forgotten twin of the bloody Boy-Who-Lived.

"Because of the death toll in the past," Dumbledore was saying "One of the new safety measures that I feel I must mention now to keep anyone from getting their hopes up is that the age restriction has been increased from fourteen in past years to seventeen." This elicited quite a few groans from many students, Harry among them. Nonetheless, his keen Slytherin mind immediately began crafting all manner of ideas to get around this little problem…of course, it was all ultimately dependant on _how_ Dumbledore and the Ministry would choose to _enforce_ the restriction "I shall be personally ensuring that no student manages to hoodwink our impartial judge. I know I can count on all of you to be courteous to our foreign guests and to give your full support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. Now it is late, so off to bed then, Chop chop!"

The Great Hall emptied like sand through a sieve as the prefects led the students in their respective houses to their dormitories.

"Father tried to pull some strings in the Ministry," Malfoy was telling anyone who would listen, "But they were rather firm on that age restriction and he wasn't even able to find out who exactly this supposedly impartial judge would be. Oh well, I guess we'll all have to wait and find out in October." Harry and all the other Slytherins, except probably Crabbe and Goyle, knew what Malfoy was _not_ saying, namely that he was going to try to enter anyway by convincing the judge, whoever he or she was, that he was the most the worthy. They also all knew that it would probably be a waste of time if Lucius Malfoy, the man who might as well have owned Cornelius Fudge's soul, couldn't even find out or pull any strings. Anyone could have told the younger Malfoy that _he_ was wasting his time as well but Slytherin worth the name had very finely honed survival instincts and could tell when it was the right time to stand and fight, the right time to run away and the right time to simply keep your mouth shut. That, Harry was convinced, was the _real _reason why the symbol of Slytherin was a snake: the House was a bloody nest of them, anyone who faltered or lost face would find himself swept aside by those who, just moments, had been his friends.

Harry went to sleep dreaming that he was standing in front the whole school with his hands held high in triumph as the students screamed and cheered…he had won the tournament and Hermione rushed up to him out of the crowd, her face glowing with adoration. She started to move even close when the dream suddenly shifted to an entirely different one…one that Harry had had far too often over the summer.

Harry was sitting in chair by a fire in an old and run-down room.

"Wormtail," he said "have you milked Nagini and made the potion?"

"Y-yes m-m-master," said Wormtail "It w-w-will b-b-e r-ready s-s-soon."

"Good," said Harry "My spy has reported that no one suspects him thus far. Soon…I shall have my new body…"

Harry suddenly jolted away and clutched his forehead as his scar was aching in pain. Harry checked his watch and realized that it was 3 am. He lay back down on the bed but, try as he might, Harry simply could not go back to sleep and so just laid there, tossing and turning every now and then, until morning came.

Harry did not want to get up but neither could he go back to sleep so after a cold shower where he managed to wash away most of his fatigue, Harry hustled up to breakfast. The Heads of Houses were distributing schedules to their students and Harry looked at his while he ate. _Hmmm...Defense right after breakfast...then Herbology after break, then lunch followed by Arithmancy and Runes...._

Harry ate quickly and then left the Great Hall and headed up the stairs to an empty classroom; just minutes later, Hermione walked in, closed the door behind her and smiled at him.

"Sleep well, Harry?" she asked

"Just fine," he replied, looking at the ground and ignoring the guilty squirm of his insides. As close as they had become, Harry was not in the habit of revealing his dreams to _anyone_; especially since they rarely made much sense and were hardly ever that informative anyway. What was there to reveal about last night? That Voldemort had a new spy somewhere? Big deal, he had spies everywhere…half of Slytherin House just for starters; what was one more? That Voldemort was going to come back soon? The events at the Quidditch World Cup had showed that there were still Death Eaters out and about; it was probably only a matter of time anyway before Voldemort found a way to regain his body. "You?"

"Good," said Hermione and they then exchanged schedules for a moment. Harry noted that their Houses once again shared Herbology; they were both in Runes and Arithmancy as well but in many ways their schedules were like a mirror of each other.

"So, Harry," she said "What do you think of the Triwizard Tournament?"

Harry looked around the classroom to make sure that it was well and truly empty before casting a locking spell on the door followed by a Silencing Charm. There was no such thing as a Slytherin who was too careful; Hermione raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing, waiting for him to reply to her question.

"I'm going to find a way around that age restriction." Hermione's mouth thinned but before she could say anything, Harry continued "Just listen to me, please," he said "The prize money would afford me some measure of…independence from my so-called family. You see, Hermione, while being a parselmouth has gotten me some recognition in Slytherin House; by and large many still look at me as David's brother…if they look at me at all. This is my chance, Hermione. The chance to finally break free of his shadow and be my own person. I don't know if I'll ever get another such opportunity." Hermione was silent for a long time, so long that it became interminable and almost unbearable

"I understand where you are coming from, Harry," Hermione finally replied "And I certainly can't blame you for wanting to make a name for yourself but have you forgotten the animagus protocol? That journal has _three_ potions, all of them rather difficult and complicated. Not only that, but then there's mastering the transformation, which will take even more time."

"I'm aware of that, Hermione," Harry said "And I also know that the first potion, when started, won't even be ready until mid-October and that the protocol, combined with homework, will take up a lot of time. I know all that Hermione. But the tournament won't even _begin_ until late October and I expect the Tasks to be spaced out over the rest of the school year. I---we can do it."

"Perhaps," said Hermione and she let out a sigh "I won't try to stop you, Harry, but I won't help you either. If you're going to do this, you're going to have to do it yourself."

"I understand," Harry nodded. While he was a bit miffed that Hermione wasn't going to help him, Harry figured that doing it himself would just make the prize at the end that much sweeter. And at least she wasn't _opposed _to him doing it. That would have been…much harder to deal with.

*

Right as the second bell sounded in the Defense classroom, a red spell come out of the far corner and headed straight for Harry. Harry knew that there was no way he could get his wand out and cast a shield charm in time so instead, Harry fell out of his chair onto his side, bringing out his wand in the process; Harry was about to launch a spell in retaliation at his mysterious assailant when Alastor Moody appeared out from beneath an Invisibility Cloak.

"Well done, Potter," Moody barked as Harry got up and sat back down "Well done, five points to Slytherin." Moody took out a battered flask and, after drinking from it, the new Defense teacher then took attendance. "Alright then," said Moody after the last student had declared themselves present "I am Alastor Moody, ex-Auror and your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year. I've had a look at your past teachers, of them only Lupin was worth a damn. You've got a pretty good grounding in tackling Dark creatures but curses…that's another matter entirely. So I've got to bring you all up to scratch. Curses, they come in many strengths and forms. Technically, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm only supposed to teach you countercurses…not supposed to expose you to actual thing until your sixth year but I say that's nonsense and Professor Dumbledore agrees with me. You need to know _what_ you're up against and how to deal with it. A Dark Wizard won't tell you what curse he's about to use, he's just going to do it and if you don't know what to do, you'll die. So…do any of you know what are the three darkest curses of all." Virtually everyone, except Crabbe and Goyle, raised their hands.

"Mr. Malfoy," Moody said

"My father told me about one," said Malfoy "The Imperious Curse."

"Yes…your father would know all aboutthat wouldn't he?" Moody took out from his desk a large glass jar containing a spider. Moody let the spider out, catching it in his hand and then raised his wand "_Engorgio!_" The spider swelled until it was larger than a tarantula. "_Imperio!"_ The spider leapt from Moody's hand and did a back flip, followed by a cartwheel and then it rose on two of its hind legs went into an unmistakable tap dance. Everyone in the class was laughing…except Moody.

"Think its funny, do you?" he growled "Would it still be funny if it was one of you?" The laughter died away instantly and Moody let the spider back down on the rest of its legs "Total control," he said quietly "I could make it jump out the window, drown itself…anything at all. Once He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was vanquished many years ago, there were a good deal of wizards and witches who claimed to have been under the Imperious Curse…the Ministry had a real time trying to sort out who really had been controlled and who had been acting on their own free will. The Imperious can be fought, I'll be teaching you how as best I can, but it takes a strong mind and not everyone can. Far better to simply avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Everyone jumped as Moody barked the last two words. "Another dark curse?"

Once again virtually everyone raised their hands. "Ms. Greengrass."

Daphne Greengrass, a typically quiet and rather frosty Slytherin, spoke up

"The Cruciatus Curse," she said

"Aye, yes," said Moody "It's used for torture…causes pain like you could never imagine…allow me to demonstrate…_Crucio!_" The spiders legs bent in, it rolled over and began twitching horribly and the whole class watched in silent rapture; it was only when the spider started shuddering and jerking violently that Moody finally removed the curse. "Right," he said "Any others…Mr. Zabini?"

"The Killing Curse," Blaise Zabini replied

"Ahh, yes," Moody said "the last and the worst. No countercurse, no shield charm can block it and only one person has ever survived it." Harry knew that Moody was referring to David Potter and rolled his eyes.

_How exactly he did that is something I'd_ really_ like to know_. Harry thought but unfortunately Dumbledore had never been very forthcoming with explantations and not many people had asked for them besides; they just seemed to blindly accept whatever the old man said.

"_Avada Kedavra!_" Moody barked. There was a blinding flash of green light accompanied a by a rushing sound and the spider went limp, clearly and unmistakably dead. "Now," said Moody as he flicked his wand to Vanish the dead spider "The Killing Curse requires a fair bit of power behind it. All of you could get up and try to cast it at and, even if you all succeeded, the worst that I would get is a nosebleed…but when a Dark Wizard casts this spell, most of the time about the only thing you can do is get out of the way." Moody paused for a moment to let this sink in "These three curses are known as the Unforgivables, because the use of any one of them on a fellow human being gets you a one way ticket to Azkaban. That is what you are up against, that is why you must practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" the class jumped again "Get out your quills and copy all this down." The rest of the class was spent taking notes on the Unforgivables; when the bell finally rang Moody dismissed them. In the hallway, the other students were discussing the class as if it had been some kind of show. As usual, Harry simply kept silent. Whatever he said would probably not be noticed or heard anyway. Such was life, unfortunately…for the moment anyway.

*

A/N: apparantly does not like graphs or I would have included their full schedules.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: If Harry Potter were mine, then I wouldn't be writing this.

**A Twins Life**

Chapter 4:

In Herbology, Professor Sprout had them collecting bubotuber pus; a tedious task but also a mindless one that allowed Harry to continue thinking about Moody's class. He really wished that Hermione was at the table with him but instead she was across the room.

Unfortunately it could not be helped: while being a Ravenclaw insulated her from the Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry, it did nothing about her heritage. Personally, Harry could not have cared less about it and he didn't understand why anyone else should. After all, it was a person's actions that determined their worth, not minor details beyond their control. Unfortunately, just as the muggle world was still full of people obsessed about the variations of skin pigmentation, the magical world still had people who believed that someone's parentage was more important than their abilities…and, also unfortunately, the vast majority of those people were or had been Slytherin's. Harry considered them a disgrace to the name of a once proud House but there was very little he could do about it right now without drawing the wrong kind of attention. One could not reason with fanatics after all, especially not when they were out trying to impose their beliefs on everyone else.

Arithmancy, however, was different; only a few of the smarter Slytherin's were in the class and while Harry would not have been willing to speculate on their beliefs (at least one of them was the spawn of a Death Eater) they at least hadn't yet said anything. Still that did not keep them from pretending.

"So," Hermione whispered to him as they pondered the problem that Professor Vector had given the class. "You remember how to solve for the manifestation variable?"

"Yes, yes," Harry replied "You take Rowena's constant, replacing the x with your power value, and then use the product as the first variable in the equation. The second variable is manifestation so we just need to plug in the other numbers that we're given and then—," The class went on like that; Harry was relieved when Professor Vector finally dismissed them.

"So what was Moody's class like?" Hermione asked in the library. It was one of the few places where they could be themselves without fear—most of the time. Harry resented the secrecy for it really should not be anyone's business whom he was friends with. Unfortunately, Harry knew that his apparent invisibility to people in general would vanish the moment that one of his fellow Slytherin's caught on; he was not _quite_ prepared for that yet but, if all went according to plan, then soon—

"Brilliant," Harry said "That's about all I can say. He knows his stuff."

_Oh yes_, Harry thought. Soon—

"Do you have a plan for getting the ingredients, Harry," Hermione asked and he grinned.

"As a matter of fact," Harry said "I do."

*

Potions on Tuesday was fairly routine all things considered but it was taking all of Harry's self-control to keep from sweating bullets. The class just seemed to drag on forever and any moment now he was expecting Snape to look straight at him and realize what was about to happen. At last, they were lining up to turn in their completed potions (well except for Crabbe and Goyle who were still trying to scoop it out of their cauldrons and to call what they had a 'completed' potion would've been far too kind). And then finally, just as the students were packing up to leave, Moaning Myrtle flew in right on cue and looking perfectly distressed.

"Professor Snape!" she exclaimed "Professor Snape! Oh thank goodness I found you!"

"What is going on here?" Snape demanded coolly

"It's Peeves!" Myrtle said "He's out of control and I can't find the Baron."

Muttering under his breath, Snape grabbed his wand and stormed out to find the errant poltergeist. With a wink, Myrtle left as well. Harry deliberately stalled getting packed up and, once he was alone, rushed into Snape's private cabinet. Ten minutes later, he was out of the classroom and ducked into a secret passage just barely in time to avoid a _really_ angry Snape.

_Whew!_ Harry thought with a sigh _I hope I don't have to do _that_ again._ He was sure that he'd grabbed everything they'd need for the potions.

"Well, Harry," Myrtle said to him after Harry had arrived in her bathroom, which was being used to brew the potions. Harry and Hermione had decided to use Myrtle's bathroom because no one went in there anyway; Myrtle had agreed to keep things quiet and help them because it gave her people to talk to for a change. "How did I do?"

"Great Myrtle," said Harry "You did great." Myrtle giggled and floated over to her stall; Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Well, you were right about Moody," Hermione said "I had him today and he really _does_ know what he's talking about but—well—lets just say that I'm not exactly sanguine about him performing the Unforgivables in a classroom."

"Neither was I," Harry said "But like he said, it's something that we _have_ to know."

*

Hermione's birthday happened to coincide with the first Hogsmeade trip of the year. Harry had forged James' signature last year and it had proven good enough to pass Filch's muster. There wasn't much (beside candy) that could be bought for 3 Galleons, 5 Sickles and 7 Knuts but Harry wasn't about to be deterred. Thus, late Friday afternoon Harry snuck into Hogsmeade using a secret passage that he had discovered in his first year; he eventually found what he hoped was an adequate gift, if a bit on the pricey side...at least for him that is. Returning from the village, Harry had a very close encounter with Mrs. Norris…which, of course, then turned into a very close encounter with a cantankerous Argus Filch but Harry escaped by ducking through a fake wall and heading down another secret passage that, fortunately, led almost directly to the Slytherin Common Room.

Harry gave Hermione her present while they were riding the carriages into the village

"Happy Birthday, Hermione," he said giving her a shopping bag. Curious, Hermione opened it and removed a little brown diary with an attached stylus

"It's, not much, I know…" Harry began

"Harry, you didn't have to get me this," Hermione interrupted, suddenly finding her voice again "How did you—"

"Well, since it _is_ your birthday," Harry said, carefully dodging her implied question of how he had gotten her this "and it's your money that's about to be spent, and on me no less, so I figured that the least I could do was give you some token of my appreciation." Hermione grinned and gave Harry a hug

"Thank you," she said "I appreciate it, really I do."

Their first stop was Gladrags Wizardwear. After getting his measurements taken by one of the tailors, Harry settled on a set of black dress robes with green trim and a white undershirt. Hermione also helped Harry pick out a new pair of plain black shoes, a black cloak, two pairs of casual pants and three different shirts. The total came to well over 90 Galleons, just within Hermione's budget. While they were waiting for the clothes to be completed, Harry and Hermione wandered around Hogsmeade taking in the sights.

Later, now dressed in one of his new outfits, Harry walked with Hermione over to the Three Broomsticks where she used her last remaining Sickles to buy two mugs of butterbeer.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Harry asked her as they sat down

"Are you sure my thoughts are only worth a Knut?" Hermione replied with a smirk

"Oh, I bet they are worth _far_ more than a Knut," Harry replied, also smirking "But a Knut is all I have to pay with." He had intended it as a joke but in fact it was the literal truth.

"I'm sure we could come up with another means of exchange," Hermione said and they both shared a chuckle before sipping that their butterbeers. About half an hour later, the two of them left and went for a walk; Harry felt his free hand slowly link with Hermione's. He glanced at her but Hermione merely smiled and gave his hand a slight squeeze. Harry relaxed and they continued walking; once again, he was calm and at peace. It did not last.

"Well, well," a familiar voice said "What is going on _here?_" Harry and Hermione turned to see David Potter, Michael Black and Ron Weasley. David of course was identical to Harry except the scar shape; Michael Black was mostly a junior version of Sirius Black though his eyes were blue instead of grey. Then of course there was Weasely who was tall with red hair and freckles.

"Just leave me alone," Harry sighed, really not in the mood for this right now. He wondered why, just when things seemed to be fine, David had to come in and ruin everything. "What did you get so bored of your _adoring _fans that you decided to come bother me?"

"Well looks like _someone_ woke up on the wrong side this morning," David sneered "You'd be best to stay away from my brother, Granger," he continued "You don't want to fall into the _wrong_ company."

"I can tell for myself what the 'right' company is," Hermione coolly replied and then gave Harry a smirk "And besides, I don't have any problems with his nefarious plans for world domination as long as leaves some room for me."

"What?" Ron exclaimed; Harry and Hermione both rolled their eyes; Harry had started that little joke years ago and Ron still fell for it every time without fail.

"I think we should teach him a lesson, Dave," Black said, getting out his wand. They were all trying to look menacing and failing miserably as far as Harry was concerned. The three Gryffindors all fired red beams of light. Harry, who had secretly gotten his wand out a while ago, calmly brought up a shield that reflected all the spells right back at their casters. The three Gryffindors then proved their stupidity once again when they didn't get out of the way of their spells and so collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Come on, Hermione," Harry said grabbing her hand again "Let's go."

*

The potion was black, thick and foul-smelling; the bathroom was already rank with the stench. Which was wrong as it should've been blue, odorless and only slightly viscous. Harry was searching the diary frantically to try and find out what had gone wrong and if it was salvageable; then it hit him.

_Of course! I didn't add enough fluxweed._

Harry added in the missing ingredient and began stirring; the potion began turning from black to blue and finally achieved the right shade and consistency. Harry let out a sigh of relief before getting out his wand and cast the necessary enchantments on the potion.

"Is it done?" Hermione asked when she walked in. She paused and sniffed the air for a moment "Are you sure you did it properly."

"Yes, yes," Harry said impatiently "I made a little mistake but I figured out how to correct it; it's nearly ready. We just need to add a drop of our blood to attune it."

"Okay," said Hermione. They sat on the ground next to each other and after separating the potion into two vials, they each used a knife to prick their finger and let a few drops fall into the vials.

"Alright, let's do it," Harry said. He and Hermione each downed the potion in a single gulp. Everything went dark.

*

A/N: It's so hard to have an original animagus fic these days. I've had some difficulty deciding what their forms should be so any feedback and suggestions would be more than welcome.


End file.
